1. For Sale - In Stock

OK-Cherokee Style Tear Dress Dark Green Calico w/hot pink & lt blue ribbon 1-Piece dress, Size L-XL $200 Elastic waist, long sleeve, full length. Hand wash, hang dry. (Leather belt shown not included) SOLD

OK-Cherokee Style Tear Dress "Creations by Melodie" - One of our seamstresses who made wedding dresses has created exceptional design bands. These "Cherokee Rose" bands have 124 individually hand-cut pieces. 2-pc XL dress has an elastic waist & matching decorated sash. Bust fits 44-52", shirt 24" long, skirt 33" long. Hand wash, hang dry. $350 SALE Blue Dress $300

2. Style & Pricing Information

Items Shown Below Are Not For Sale           Diamond Band $250       Diamond Band $250           Ribbon Bands $200     Diamond Band $250 Concho belt not included         Mountains $250     Ancient Wave Design $250 Concho belt not included   "Tulips & Swirls" Wedding Dress w/sash. $400 Shown w/short veil & floral headband Creations by Melodie     Tear Dress w/"Cherokee Rose" bands $350 Creations by Melodie Concho belt not included

Oklahoma-Cherokee Style Tear Dresses Cherokee author & storyteller Kathy Copeland The Cherokee Tear Dress was adopted as the official style of the Cherokee Nation of OK over 30 yrs ago. In the past 20 years, it's been adopted by Cherokees & descendants everywhere. This modern style is based on a dress that came to Indian Territory on the Trail of Tears. The original calf length dress had 3/4 length sleeves & was worn with a white turkey feather cape (retired a few years later). A later Cherokee Nation Princess began wearing floor-length dresses with long sleeves in the 90's, & the style became widely popular. Our dresses are adapted from the original Cherokee Tear Dress style. We make dresses without the original set-in waist, so they fit more people. We make 2-pc dresses for ease of traveling, & use a neckline ruffle instead of the original stand-up collar. Our dresses have a 2-button yoke instead of buttons all the way down the front. Our standard dresses have ribbon trim ($200), or design bands with diamond & cross design (shown), 7-point stars (not shown), or pre-Columbian wave design ($250). Kathy's dress shown above was $250. Finger-woven belt not included. We make our dresses the traditional way using squares & rectangles, based on your measurements. Please be flexible on color choices. Wedding dresses available with adequate notice. Most recently, the Eastern Band of Cherokee have adopted an early-historic period style of dress. We have no word about how well this style is being accepted among the Eastern Band Cherokees, & haven't been there ourselves.

Items Shown Below Are Not For Sale

Contemporary Tear Dress Style We designed our Contemporary Tear Dress style for ladies who want a more modern look than the traditional Tear Dress. Our 2-pc dress has a ribbon shirt top with decorative bands on the shoulders & sleeves, just like a Tear Dress. The tiered calf-length skirt has a decorative band just above the bottom tier. They're shown here with concho belts (not included), & look great in solid colors. Add turquoise or shell jewelry, and they're ready for any special occasion. Prices start at $250 for adult sizes w/decorative bands. Belts sold separately on Concho Belt page.

Items Shown Below Are Not For Sale       Delaware (Lenape) Style Wrap Skirts Cloth Leggings (Trailer visible in 2nd photo)               Isabelle Brown               Cowrie Shell Trim     Pamunkey Museum               on Caped Blouse     King William, Virginia             (Back View)

Eastern Caped Blouses Wrap Skirts & Cloth Leggings These Eastern Style wrap skirts & leggings are worn today by Delaware (Lenape) women, as well as other eastern tribes. The style dates back to the time when women began replacing their deerskin skirts with newly-aquired woolen tradecloth. They began decorating their new woolen skirts with trade-silver brooches & ribbonwork panels. Skirts and leggings can be made from gabardine or wool tradecloth. Skirts start at $125, leggings start at $75, decorated with ribbonwork panels as shown. Pricing examples: Skirt (top left) in gabardine $125, leggings $75 Skirt (top right) in Tradecloth - $225, leggings $125 Skirt (bottom left) in gabardine $150, leggings $75 The back "hairbow" with long trailer worn by Delaware (Lenape) women is available starting at $60. Caped Blouses of this style are worn by Delaware, Shawnee, Caddo, Potowatomi, & other tribes, with small differences in style.These blouses often have shells or small silver brooches (not included) sewn onto the flounce. Caped blouses start at $100.

Choctaw Dresses by Donna Sockey Pitts

Choctaw Dresses Choctaw Dresses & shirts are one of the most distinctive tribal styles seen today. Mens & womens fashions are instantly recognizable by the rows of diamond or "mountain" trim. Both men & women wear beaded network collars. Women wear ribbon streamers hanging to the ground from a silver comb worn at the back of the head. We're referring ALL requests for Choctaw dresses & mens shirts to Donna Sockey Pitts, a Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma member, who lives in the Oklahoma City metro area. Click on the link for her website: Click Here for Donna Sockey Pitts Choctaw Fashions Website

Chickasaw Dresses by Lynn Stumblingbear   Lynn & "Louie" Stumblingbear

Chickasaw Dresses Chickasaw Dresses are often seen in south-central Oklahoma today. The Chickasaw Nation of OK is headquartered in Ada, just SE of the Oklahoma City metro area. Chickasaws also wear the beaded network collars, & women wear ribbon streamers hanging to the ground from a silver comb worn at the back of the head. They also wear ribbon streamers on the backs of their dresses. Creek ladies dress very similar to Chickasaw ladies. We're referring ALL requests for Chickasaw dresses to Lynn (Byrd) Stumblingbear, a Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma tribal member living in Wichita, KS. The Chickasaw Nation operates Bedre Chocolate, Riverwind Casino just south of the OKC metro on I-35, Remington Park in OKC, & Windstar Casino at the Texas state line on I-35. Lynn Stumblingbear - Phone# 316-461-6417

Silver comb worn at back of head

Silver combs (similar to photo at left) are worn at the back of the head with Choctaw, Chickasaw, Shawnee, Caddo & other tribal dresses. Contact us for prices on custom-made crowns, available in real silver or German (trade) silver.

Items Shown Below Are Not For Sale     Wind Clan Skirt     Sheer Cape

Seminole style piecework skirts and tops available by custom order only. Prices are based on time required to make design bands. The Seminole ladies of Florida began making intricate piecework bands for their family's clothing after treadle-operated sewing machines became available around 100 years ago.

3. Photo Archive Section

Womens Traditional Cloth
Eastern & Southeastern styles

Items Shown Below Are Not For Sale

Delaware style Wrap skirt Cloth leggings

Back view Delaware or Shawnee style caped blouse (Caddo style is similar)

Caped Blouse Front View

Janet Littlecrow in calf-length Tear Dress

Janet's daughter April modeling Tear Dress for MAAIC Museum

2-Piece Tear Dress

Tear Dress

Mary Jane Harjo Oklahoma Choctaw

Choctaw style dress w/beaded collar

Childs Choctaw style Dress/Apron

Toddler Size Tear Dress

Skirt for Seminole girl

Skirt for Seminole girl

MAAIC Museum Reproduction of 1930's Seminole Skirt

Unique bands on Tear Dress

Tear Dress w/ribbon decoration & cloth belt

Two-piece Tear Dress

A Tear Dress class Janet taught at Mid-America All Indian Center Museum in Wichita KS. Noted Cherokee basket maker Debra Laws on right.